The Two Sides of Shirakage Mouse
by Generation's Incarnation
Summary: Sardonic humor with her rodent friends during the day. Caring flatmate over a submissive DM at night. Shirakage Mouse is one weird foster cousin in Jeopardy Mouse's family. She even shares her Japanese food and sodas with Penfold from time to time. But how on Earth did she ever decide to call French Fries (or Chips) "Dried Potatoes", out of all that is AnimalKind Holy? Mattaku


**The Two Sides of Shirakage Mouse**

Opening this tale with a weary sigh isn't something that I, Shirakage Mouse, would wish to begin another day in London. But that's the price I have to pay, since I'm bunking at the Center of Britain's Secret Service HQ.

Not that I'm in any trouble with the law or anything. But maybe you'd try reliving your human soul's life in the body of a rare Japanese tailed white mouse, where this world's Planet Earth had now lost its human species to the Anthro Furry community.

Jeopardy Mouse, my foster cousin and niece to my American foster mother, had popped over to Danger HQ to help relieve a bit of anger I was feeling towards the host of the Danger flat. Apparently, Danger Mouse had accidentally set a section of Kings College's building on fire...a particular section that held **my personal office!**

If you would please mind, I'd rather not go into the details of that unfortunate mishap. All that I can do now is minimize my blue eyes into tiny dots of exasperation, as I watch both my cousin and DM go at each other through a verbal argument.

Penfold was sitting beside me and shared the same set of expression in his specks. Deadpanning silently together towards the two international mice agents was always a good exercise to help strengthen our friendship. Especially when I'd offer him a melon flavored Ramune soft drink bottle after shopping from London's Japan Center store.

Only 3 words seemed to get through to our zoned out brains: "Fries", "Chips", and "Crisps". Why on this wacko Earth's universe would they be arguing about potatoes?

"-Shirakage," DM's voice addressed me suddenly. "I think you've had enough barbecue crisps for one day. If you eat anymore, you'll ruin your lovely figure."

I narrowed a sapphire glare at him. "Don't you start bringing your arguments over here, Dude. I haven't even begun to notice my body turning Pleasingly Plump yet."

Nezu-Chan's gaze darkened a bit more firmly. "And what rule did we make recently since my agency had ordered me to offer up the Danger Flat's guest room for you?"

I pouted childishly while puckering my lips out in a teasing manner. "You're no fun, Danger Mouse. I'd rather call you 'Dude' since there's only one interpreted definition whenever I hear the word 'Mate'. To my analytic perception, it holds an intimate meaning."

A wry sneer formed on DM's face and his eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Remind me again, Jeopardy: Where exactly in Japan did your Aunt and Uncle adopt Shirakage when she was an infant...?"

That sarcastic statement restarted their bickering once more. Still, Penfold and I decided to remain in the same room to converse amongst ourselves despite the noise.

"Hey, Penfold-San," I said. "Do you think AnimalKind is ready to have its own Space Force? Cuz even though our Anthro Furry community was spread out, born and raised across the globe alongside the human race at the same time before Said human race died out...I don't think that we should be limited to the spaces of land and governed countries in the same way.

"I mean, we've even changed the humans' national statues for our own comfort and therapeutic reasons to move forward in life without them."

Penfold's megane specks stared skeptically at me as I concluded my philosophical thought. "Um, where on Earth do you come up with such noble and innocent proposals for modern day civilization, if your perception of the word 'Mate' is considered to be a love affair between two people?"

I expressed a lopsided smile at him. "You would've wanted to have a rebellious side towards this kid show too if you learned—during a Human Criminal & Extortion History class in College—that the extinct primates had once killed Asian Elephants for their skin, while their blood was also solidified into cubes and powder to create ruby colored prayer beads."

Penfold spewed out a gulp of his melon flavored Ramune soda and coughed slightly from my grotesque history fact.

"Ugghh!" A familiar male voice groaned in disgust before bellowing, "PENFOLD!"

The hamster in deep crap grimaced sheepishly towards his British flatmate, whose white mouse ears and face was dripping with the sticky, sweet carbonated liquid.

"Um...sorry, Chief," he apologized timidly. "I was just surprised over something Prof. Shirakage happened to say during our oddly polite chat."

"Trust me," I added assuringly. "You wouldn't want to hear it, Nezu-chan.

"By the way," I then turned the conversation towards my cousin. "Jeopardy, why _are_ you arguing about the names for chips and fries all of a sudden with DM? I thought you developed a slight case of Cibophobia towards potatoes several months ago. And _that_ was a time before I moved here and met your Baka of a secret agent colleague."

JM's brown furred face turned a slight shade of green as she rolled her eyes up with a weary sigh. "I didn't have a choice, Shirakage. It's part of this latest fanfic script given to us by the show's writers."

A giant sweat drop permeated visibly behind my black haired head. Oh, no! I feel like I'm about to experience an anime crack fanfic moment here in Nezu-Chan's crazy universe. Usually, I'd let Professor Squawkencluck help settle down my aggravation towards the broken laws of physics during Danger Mouse's weird missions whenever we're together.

I let out a silent sigh and turned away from the mice's quarrel to mull in my own thoughts again.

What I wouldn't give to have my old human life and world handed back to me. If anime had existed in DM's universe, I wouldn't have to come up with false excuses at him over my wardrobe choices...like the time when the moronic mouse accused my red pajama set resembling too much like Sinister Mouse's criminal jumpsuit.

He didn't even care to notice that my long sleeved red kimono pajamas were lacking the red gloves and red boots which his Twistyverse twin always wore with his outfit. Just how dense was he!? It couldn't be helped that I had to keep my knowledge of my real world's anime series, Inuyasha a secret from him.

And never mind my 3 toed white mouse feet not helping my Inuyasha pajama set feel symbolic enough already; I miss having a middle finger to give rude gestures to people while growing up in this 2nd life of mine.

"D'AAAAUUGHH!" Penfold suddenly screamed and huddled behind DM. "Chief! Shirakage's eating a cherry flavored ring pop! And right after she scarred me for life with that horrid fact about Humans creating prayer breads out of elephant blood!"

Jeopardy Mouse facepalmed towards my oblivious nature in forgetting an empathetic conversation after 3 minutes.

What? All I was doing was eating a cherry flavored ring pop, and imagining that the lives of humans were inside this Philosopher's Stone on my finger. Can't I subconsciously nerd out and think about a lifetime that was once in my grasp 30 years ago!? Can't I have the right to behave like a Jajauma—a wild horse version of a young village girl who couldn't be controlled by her elders!?

" _H_ _ **nx't**_ _-cheww!"_ Danger Mouse suddenly sneezed, bringing my attention back to silly crack reality.

"Bless you," we said to him automatically, JM's frown never wilted from her face.

"Ugh...I'm sorry," He rubbed the bottom of his nose with his finger.

I averted my eyes from Nezu-chan, where my expression revealed a mixture of halfhearted guilt and anxious love.

"Gomen na sai, Danger Mouse-San," I apologized sincerely. "It's my fault that you got soaked in melon soda. I shouldn't have startled Penfold through a sensitive conversational topic in the first place."

DM grinned coolly as I glanced back at him. "Ha! It will take more than a spilled drink on my head and clothes to make me ill."

"Maybe we should hurry this story up to the end by asking Shirakage her opinion in your argument, Chief," Penfold suggested warily. "It may, indeed, be an Old Wives' Tale. But we wouldn't want you to catch cold after getting wet."

"I agree," Jeopardy Mouse huffed bluntly. "Well, Shirakage... What would you call Barbecue potato chips in a snack bag: 'Chips' or 'Crisps'? I don't care if we skip our debate on French Fries."

JM, DM and Penfold were staring at me eagerly, waiting to hear my answer.

"Hmm..." I raised my chin up slightly and had my mind go into a bored trance. Now, what did Inuyasha call those bag of potato chips that Kagome had brought back from her home in Japan's Modern Era through her family's shrine's ancient well which connected to Japan's Feudal Era...?

My face lit up as the memory came back to me, and I smacked my fist into my paw's palm. "Oh! I know!"

"Well!?" The three rodents asked with anticipation.

I beamed a silly smile. "Dried Potatoes! I wanna call em 'Dried Potatoes'!"

"WHAAAAA~~~!?" They may have flabbergasted at my answer. But I really wished that they would've fallen over in 90's anime style humor.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later after Jeopardy Mouse flew back to New York, it was just me and the dynamic duo of the Secret Service.

Penfold was doing the washing up in the kitchen; DM was reading his monthly magazine subscription of "Spy Wars" on the sitting room's couch; and I was sitting next to him while watching the Evening News on the Big Telly with the volume turned down.

As the two of us sat quietly together, an odd butterfly fluttering feeling caused me to glance to my left. Through his peripheral vision's right side, DM glanced his amber eye to me suddenly. I froze as our gazes met. I swear, if I start blushing...

But DM just smiled warmly...until his eye lost focus. " _Heh...!"_ He turned away from me, raising his left elbow and arm up to his face. " _Hh'_ _ **ngg**_ _ktch! Hih'_ _ **gnxt!"**_

I blushed slightly from his stifled sneezes. "Bless you, DM-San."

He sniffed several times to try to relieve the mysterious itching, letting out small moans of discomfort on his lips.

"Nezu-chan," I asked him finally after a few minutes went by. "Are you feeling all right?"

" _Snf. Snfle._ Y-Yes, Ms. Shirakage. Sorry for the noise. _Snf._ I thig I bmight dneed a tissue. Ebah since I showered off the bmelon soda, sobmethidg has beedn bothering bmy dnose."

My face clouded with a bit of concern towards my Dear flatmate. "You don't have allergies, do you? I've only seen you sneeze when you feng shui'ed my guest room for me several days ago. You called them, 'Post Workout allergies', am I right?"

DM pulled the collar of his white jumpsuit to his snout. "Dust bmight becobme a bothersobme allergy to bme whedebah I catch a head cold. It would also have to accumulate id a large area, like a stuffy, old bmanor... _guh sniff"_

My face softened as his sniffling and voice grew more congested. What if he actually _did_ catch a cold?

I watched his jumpsuit's collar slide off his face. DM frowned and raised his wrist against the tip of his snout, trying to keep his nose isolated from whatever was penetrating his sinuses.

My concern for the handsome British mouse grew when his eye watered constantly; a glossy film of moisture was also a sign of illness.

"Here, Nezu-chan." I leaned closer to him and took out a travel sized pack of tissues from my pocket. "Use this. Wipe or blow your nose if it will help you feel a bit better."

He gave me a sympathetic look and took it from my hands. "Thank you very bmuch, Ms. Shirakage..." He quickly turned away and touched his quivering snout into the soft tissue. " _He_ _ **kx'nt**_ _-ah!"_

"Bless you, Danger Mouse-San," I said gently. "I think you might be coming down with something." I then touched his forehead with my white mouse paw. My brow furrowed again as DM hummed tiredly, closed his glassy eye and leaned into my paw.

"Sh-Shira-Sadn," he murmured contently. "Ohh, that's nice... Feels cool and relaxing..."

I scratched the two triangular hairs on his head and sighed. "That's because you've caught a fever, you Baka." Aw, Damn. Why was I beginning to worry about him this much?

Danger Mouse grunted tiredly and slowly sat up to look at me. Or, the very least, tried to keep his vision focused through a foggy daze. "I thig you bmight be right about bme catching ad udnlucky cold, _snf._ My dnose is all clogged up."

"Guess this means I'll have to tell Penfold to make Parmesan spaghetti for two people instead of three tonight," I suggested with a guilty face. "If you eat any cheese for dinner with a head full of mucus, Nezu-kun, you might get worse by developing a terrible chest cold."

DM shook his head with a weak smile. "That's just fine, Shirakage. I wouldn't mind eating tomato soup with herbal tea before bed anyway." He then began to involuntarily shiver and hug himself for warmth.

"I'll go and fetch your extra quilt from your bedroom's closet," I offered while getting up off the couch. "After you're all bundled up, I'll help Penfold in the kitchen and inform him the slight change of dinner plans.

"Is there any kind of flavoring that you'd want me to add to your tea?"

DM's breath hitched, yet he tried to keep his face steady as he answered. "H-Honey... _Heh'kshuu!"_

"Bless you," I grinned mildly. "Will you be okay waiting here for a while? I'll set the small table by the sitting room's large windows if you wish to eat there."

"That's very kind of you," he muttered weakly and stifled a small cough. "Oh, err... my head hurts..."

I stared at him with empathetic gentleness. "Oh, you wanna lie down that badly, huh."

"Don't worry about me," he sniffed in dismay. "I'll do my best to not pass out, Madam."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It's not every night that I see the sidekick of Britain's greatest secret agent act like a strict Mother Hen towards his best friend and flat guest. Once Penfold had set DM's soup and tea on the small table by the sitting room's window, he gave us the fierce order not to dine together.

I had to eat with the surprisingly stern hamster at the kitchenette's table, while DM sat by himself...viewing the evening hour lights of London. However, I did manage to glance at DM one more time before joining his best friend.

Did I see a hint of loneliness in his eye...?

My back was facing Danger Mouse as I ate my Parmesan spaghetti. And two minutes into our quiet meal, my mouse ears heard DM's breath catch in trembling anticipation. His nose must be troubling him a great deal tonight.

Then I heard his short breaths skipping about more sharply than before. It was a hypnotizing sound to hear.

" _HH'tchh'ischh!"_ A half formed spluttering sneeze erupted from across the room behind me. The clattering of his spoon also followed, dropping onto his table. But silence failed to reclaim the area, as a much more powerful sneeze rocked DM's furniture.

" _Ah... heIH'TSSCHOO!"_ I heard my poor flatmate gasp, causing me to turn around and see Nezu-chan flinching his face downwards into a clean napkin.

" _HH-RSSCHOO! Ah... hh'ssSCHOO! Hh- HH'TSSHOO! Hh-hhh...HH! HHRSSCHUH!"_

Sheer breathlessness forcing a pause, Danger Mouse cautiously straightened up, rubbing at his still unsettled nose through the cloth. Even as he struggled to normalize his breathing, nostrils refusing to be still, he became aware of my shimmering blue eyes watching him. A brightening shade of red flushed over his fevered cheeks, and he politely hid an embarrassed smile behind his snot covered napkin.

" _Snf._ M-My apologies, Madam. _Snf._ Do excuse bme, please."

I gave him a tender smile with a small shake of my head. "That's alright, Danger Mouse-San. You don't have to be ashamed for sneezing so loudly from a cold. The noise isn't bothering me in the slightest. And bless you."

His blush darkened a bit from my kind response. Despite feeling his conduct behaving most unbecoming towards me, he eventually replied back through a curt nod of acknowledgement.

I smiled cutely when I saw another sneeze forming behind Nezu-kun's grimacing face. And knowing that he would rather restrain himself from sneezing under the eyes of a lady than sneeze in front of a pretty friend, I turned my head back towards my meal.

" _HR'SHSCHUH! -ah... huh... HR'RSCHHOO!"_ The sound of DM blowing his nose made my heart settle down from an unusual skip in its beat.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the rest of HQ's residents slept soundly through the night, I found out that finding my own need for sleep was going to be long and hard. My half tired eyes kept staring down into the sheets of my bed; my large mouse ears honing every bit of its attention onto the murmured moaning from next door.

How could I sleep at all when I know Danger Mouse's high fever was bringing him discomfort in his _own_ sleep? There's no way that someone like me can leave him alone in that state. Nezu-chan was so dizzy after dinner that I had to blindfold myself while keeping him steady as he changed into his pajamas.

Before I could register that my body was moving on its own by a sudden and strong impulse, my ears and half awake vision followed the sound of deep coughing and labored breathing.

Not caring that I was intruding onto the privacy of my sick host's bedroom, I climbed into the unfamiliar bed while feeling the sweaty warmth of its owner.

" _Ehhhh..."_ The male mouse's breath inhaled with soft shaking before picking up speed. " _Hehh-hah! Hehhhh'yestchuuu! Ig'tschuu!"_

Danger Mouse's sneezes sounded quite high pitched and ticklish in the middle, even through his congestion. And for some reason, being near him like this was helping me feel more drowsy for sleep.

" _Hh'gtshhhchuh!"_ His head jerked upwards again from a third disorienting loud sneeze. After a few more sniffles and another mesmerizing " _Hhhh... ek'shuhhh!"_... into the open air, DM murmured softly and turned over on his left side.

I cuddled up to his shirtless white furry chest and felt him unconsciously embrace me into a snuggling hug.

"Bless you, Nezu-kun," I whispered gently under my breath. "Please get well really soon, Love."

I felt his white paw entwine its fingers into my own, his touch being quite gentle as well. And I heard him murmur one name in my ear:

"Shira-San."


End file.
